Guitar virtuoso Robben Ford’s forthcoming new album Into The Sun (Mascot Label
Group) shines a bright light on his artful, contemporary songwriting and the
stunning playing that’s made him a favorite foil of Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell,
George Harrison and other legends.

The five-time Grammy nominee describes the 11-song set as
“one of the top recordings I’ve ever done” — a staggering observation
considering his extensive discography, which embraces more than 35 albums under
his own name and with his various bands. There’s also Ford’s session and sideman
work, which includes hundreds of concert appearances and albums by Bonnie Raitt,
Barbara Streisand, Charlie Musselwhite, KISS, Ruthie Foster, Jimmy Witherspoon
and Rickie Lee Jones.

Into the Sun, which follows last year’s critically acclaimed
A Day In Nashville and 2013’s Bringing It Back Home, explores the breadth of
Ford’s sophisticated, visionary writing and playing, creating a new chapter in
his brilliant musical history. The album features a coterie of guests: gritty
Southern rock newcomer Tyler Bryant on “Stone Cold Heaven,” Allman Brothers
guitarist and Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes on “High Heels And Throwing
Things,” slide guitar guru Sonny Landreth on “So Long 4 U,” Americana and blues
icon Keb’ Mo’ and pedal steel wizard Robert Randolph on “Justified,” and vocal
sensation ZZ Ward on “Breath Of Me." Niko Bolas, whose credits include Neil
Young, John Mayer and Keith Richards, engineered.

“The album is really upbeat,” Ford relates. “It has a
positive vibe to it — a good time feel. There are a lot of different rhythms and
colors and the way the instruments are used is really different on this and that
track. It makes me very happy to have something so diverse.”

Although Ford’s recent releases have been hailed as returns
to his musical roots — which go back to his discovery of blues as a teenager in
the 1960s – Into The Sun is a clear departure, using tradition as a springboard
to incorporate his timeless vocabulary of jazz, pop, blues and rock into a
modern framework for his poetic lyrics and the most graceful, emotionally
nuanced and melodic vocal performances of his career.

“This album is obviously of these times,” Ford says. “And the
rule during the recording process was to have no lid on things. I’ve worked very
hard to master my craft as a musician and a songwriter, but other than relying
on my strengths in those areas, I made sure there was room for new ideas and
everything my collaborators brought to the music. When you’re open to different
concepts and approaches, the most beautiful things can happen.”

All of the music and most of the lyrics from Into The Sun
came directly from Ford, but he also collaborated with ZZ Ward on “Breath Of Me”
and enlisted the enigmatic Kyle Swan, whose own recordings liberally mix images
and styles to build articulate modernist-pop tone poems. That quality
reverberates in the four songs Ford co-wrote with Swan, married to the guitar
giant’s own deep commitment to narrative. “Working with Kyle was part of my
desire to toss up everything and see what might happen, to get a fresh
perspective,” says Ford.

Into The Sun was recorded by Bolas, a collaborator of Ford’s
since his all-instrumental 1997 album Tiger Walk. “Niko is simply the best
tracking engineer I’ve ever encountered,” says Ford. “He gets great sounds
instantly.” All the better to capture Ford’s glorious guitar tones, this time
derived from four of his go-to instruments: a pair of Gibson SG’s from 1963 and
1964, his beloved 1960 Telecaster and his Gibson B-25 acoustic. As he’s done on
every album he’s made since 1983, Ford used a Dumble Overdrive Special
amplifier.

“For me,” Ford says, “it’s all about the art. If you work
hard at something you’re going to get better. I honestly think I reached a point
with my writing on Into The Sun where I could just go with the flow and bring
some of the best songs I’ve ever created to life.”

Ford already has an impressive number of shows lined up to
support the album, both here in America and overseas. One of the more notable
upcoming appearances will be the from August 31-September 4, 2015, at the
elegantly rustic Full Moon Resort, in Big Indian, NY in the Catskill Forest
Preserve (about 30 miles west of Woodstock), guitar enthusiasts and guitarists
of all skill levels will get a once in a lifetime opportunity to get inside the
minds and see the hands up close of Ford and other music icons at Robben Ford’s
Traveling Dojo Guitar Camp.

In addition to his robust profile as a world-class musician,
Ford is a highly sought-after educator with a series of acclaimed and
groundbreaking interactive videos presented on a variety of formats including
disks, downloads and mobile apps. This Traveling Dojo Guitar Camp will include
master classes, one-on-one sessions, landmark live performances with sit-in
opportunities, and all-inclusive meal options and lodging accommodations. Ford
will be joined by special guest guitar virtuoso John Jorgenson; as well as
Ford’s ace rhythm section (Brian Allen on bass and Wes Little on drums), who
will conduct master classes on groove, time, and pocket; and Ford’s friend and
trusted guitar tech, Rick Wheeler, a jazz virtuoso, will also conduct sessions
on jazz guitar. One of the most thrilling aspects of the Traveling Dojo Guitar
Camp will be hearing these complimentary talents make music together. To get
more details on the camp and/or to register, visit: http://www.robbenfordguitarcamp.com/

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